Han and Aria followed the entire crowd out of the castle to see what caused the noise. When they were free of the castle the looked up to see the remnants of an obliterated planet.
"Oh for heavens-" Aria muttered as her father grabbed her arm and pulled her through the crowd to meet up with Chewie. "What... why are they doing this? Now?" Aria couldn't take her eyes off the destroyed planet. Millions of lives... gone.
"Come on, kid. We gotta keep going." Han told his daughter. He didn't have any words of wisdom for her, not for this.
He focused on navigating them through the crowd, and when he broke free of it Chewie was there waiting for them.
He gave a growl of worry as he looked up to the sky.
"I know, we gotta go, now." Han agreed with him.
"It was the Republic!" Finn ran up to them as he said it. Aria's eyes widened as she looked back up to the sky. All of her friends, the people she worked alongside for years... they were all gone. "The First Order, they've done it. Where's Rey?" Finn looked around for the girl.
"She's not here." Aria swallowed her guilt and grief as she looked at Finn. "But Maz knows where she is." She turned back towards Maz's castle. With Han's grip on her she almost could move. "Dad-" She whipped around to look at her aged father. "We can't leave without her."
Han knew she was right, but he hated that by staying to find Rey, he was putting his own daughter at risk.
"Fine... but we must be quick."
Aria nodded and the four of them pushed back through the crowd to get back into the castle. It was harder than the first time. With everyone trying to escape, they were moving against the current. But eventually they broke through the doors to find Maz standing alone on her bar.
"You four- come with me now." She motioned for them to follow her.
"Where's Rey?" Finn asked as he moved around the other two to step up behind Maz. Maz didn't answer him as she lead them down to the basement that Rey had previously been in.
Aria, Han and Chewie all stood in a line while Finn was behind Maz. The last three look around interestingly at a part of the castle they had never seen before.
Maz moved them in to her treasures room and lifted the box that Rey had found all on her own. "I've had this for ages." She told them as she turned and opened the box. She pulled the lightsaber out from it and lifted it up. At first she seemed to want to give it to Finn, but then she passed him and handed it off to Aria.
Aria grabbed the lightsaber and held it flat in her palms as she looked it over.
"Where'd you get that?" Han looked at the familiar lightsaber in Aria's hands.
"A good question for another time." Maz told Han, then she looked up at Aria who continued to stare at the weapon in a child-like wonderment. "Use it. Find your friend." She told her.
Just as Aria wrapped her fingers around the base of the lightsaber the room around them shook violently. Aria's eyes widened as she looked around them to try and find the source of the shaking.
"Those beasts! They're here!"
"Here?" Aria couldn't hide her shock as she looked from Maz to Han. "Someone must've alerted the First Order."
"Now we really have to go." Han grabbed her upper arm.
"Not without Rey." Aria was stubborn, and every other time Han admired it. But not when her stubbornness could cost her her life.
"Aria-"
"Dad-" Aria's eyes widened in defiance. "No."
Han let out a low growl as he looked back at Chewie and Finn.
"This way." Maz lead them out of the basement, but the stairs they had taken down were completely obliterated, trapping them down below. "I have another way." Maz turned back around and went into her basement, but instead of turning left, she went right.
The others followed her closely, and each of them stumbled as the First Order continued their attack on the castle.
The walls around them cracked, and Aria knew that soon they would crumble in on them.
"Up here!" Maz pointed to a small opening, not really a window. It was more like a sewage grate, but it was all they had. "I'll go first." Maz offered up.
No one complained, and after Maz Aria went up, then Han and Chewie followed lastly by Finn. When they were all free they pulled themselves up from the debris to look around at the ship yard in front of Maz's castle.
It was in complete shambles, the beauty that Aria had admired as they first arrived was mangled and destroyed. The lake was littered with spare ship parts and trees were being blown apart every second.
Maz pulled Aria's hand down so the girl bent over to look at her. When she had Aria's attention, she grabbed Finn and did the same to him. "Rey and BB-8, they need you. Now go."
"But I-" Aria looked down at the lightsaber in her hand. She now knew why Maz gave it to her. "How did you-"
"It's in the eyes." Maz told her. "You have a need to prove yourself... now go and do it." She stressed.
Aria stood to her full height and pulled her shoulders back. She stepped away from the rest of her group as she turned the lightsaber on. As the green burst of energy pushed out, it filled Aria's vision until she saw nothing but green.
"Okay." A wicked smile pulled on her dry lips. "Let's do this." She twirled the saber in her hand as she pushed through the shrubbery around them. "Finn, stay behind me and have your blaster ready." Aria told him. "And I swear to the heavens if you don't cover me I will castrate you with this thing."
"OKAY!" Finn shouted at her vulgar threat. He got in line behind her and had his blaster out just in case.
But he didn't need it.
As the first two Storm Troopers approached Aria, she twirled the saber out in front of her as she took off at a jog, then when she was almost to the guards, she dropped to her knees and twirled the saber up above her, effectively cutting into the sides of each trooper.
As they fell she stood up and pivoted on her left toe to dig her saber into a third Trooper who had just began to raise his pistol towards her.
"Traitor!" Aria turned at the name to see a Storm Trooper advancing on Finn with a Mace.
She let out a breath as she kicked off into a sprint towards the two. As she ran up behind the Storm Trooper she lowered her saber and sliced up and to the left, cutting a long diagonal slice in the Trooper's back.
He fell forward, making Finn have to scurry back to avoid being pummeled by the heavy armor. As he fell, Finn looked up to see Aria standing behind him with her saber at the ready.
"Thanks!" He gave her his gratitude.
Aria nodded and turned to head towards the fight, but she saw a line of Storm Troopers on the ridge above them.
She wanted to try and fight, but they all already had their blasters raised and locked on them.
"Dad?" Aria's voice wasn't a shout, but Han still heard her from his spot in the shrubs.
"I'm here, kiddo." He told her as he lifted his hands and left his cover with Chewie.
"Don't move!" One of the Storm Troopers shouted at them. Aria kept a steady grip on her saber as she tried to think of a way out of this. "TK-338, we have targets in custody!"
Finn was the first to drop his blaster, and as he did Aria looked over at him.
"What are you doing?" She hissed at him. Her eyes screamed for him to pick it back up, but one look in his dark eyes and she knew that wasn't going to happen.
"Look at us." He told her sharply. "We're outnumbered and outgunned." He shook his head. "We don't have a choice."
Aria didn't want to believe him. She couldn't believe him. But she looked behind her to see her own father and best friend putting their weapons on the ground as well.
"No..."
Han met his daughter's eyes and she knew that Finn was right. They had no other choice.
Aria lowered her head as she turned back forward. She hit the button on the saber to retract the beam, then she slowly bent over to place it gently on the ground in front of her.
As she stood up, a Storm Trooper stepped forward and picked the weapon up from in front of her. She gulped as she watched the silver weapon in his hands. Just seeing it in his hands felt wrong. A Storm Trooper wasn't supposed to hold a saber. They weren't supposed to wield one... but then again neither was she.
"Put your hands on your head and slowly file towards the Transport." The same Storm Trooper as before instructed him.
Begrudgingly, Aria lifted her hands to her head and led the way through the destruction towards the transport. Her hope dwindled as she realized that maybe her dad didn't have a plan, and he most definitely would not have been able to talk his way out of this one. Not with them surrounded.
Just as Aria began to lose all hope, she heard a familiar roar from behind them. It was the exact same roar of an X-wing, and she knew that could only mean one thing.
Aria turned, as did the rest of the Storm Troopers and captives to see dozens of X-wings, A-wings, and even a few T-wings rip across the water towards them. The Resistance opened fire on the First Order, sending the ground into a chaotic scramble.
"We have incoming at two-eight-point six! Move!" The Storm Troopers all dispersed as they readied themselves for the attack. "Dispatch! Move! Scramble all squads! Repeat, scramble all squads! Anti-air cover en route to our position!"
Aria lowered her hands as she craned her neck all the way back to watch the Resistance take out all the parked TIE fighters and surrounding troopers.
"It's the Resistance."
One X-wing swooped down almost on top of them and hit the Storm Troopers all around them- but didn't hit them.
The soldiers scrambled while some flew up and landed feet away from them. But Aria didn't care about them. All she cared about was the Storm Trooper who picked up the lightsaber dropped it right in front of her. She reached down to pick it up, then hit the button to extend the beam of light. With her eyes on the green burst of pure energy, her hope restored.
"Quick!" Han told her.
Aria nodded as she lifted her gaze from the light saber to the Storm Troopers around her. While they were focused on the air strike, she knew at any minute they could turn back to them.
But she couldn't engage with them, not yet, because there was one specific X-wing that spun in a loop in the exact same way Poe showed her once when he was boasting about his skills. It was an exquisite move, and one Aria was sure no one else could do.
"It can't be..." She didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to let herself believe it just in case it wasn't true.
"Woohoo!" Finn rocked his fist through the air as he spun in his spot to keep watch of the same x-wing as Aria. "Yeah! That's one helluva pilot!"
"Yeah..." Aria couldn't stop the hope from swelling inside of her. She knew better, she knew all the horrible things that could happen if she let herself hope... but she did. "Yeah... one hell of a pilot." With a new purpose, Aria gripped onto the saber as she made her way towards the distracted Troopers. "Hey!" She shouted at them so at least they had a fair fight.
As they turned towards her she took off at a sprint to meet up with them. They lifted their pistols and fired off shots at her, but she deflected them with her saber. She didn't send them back, but at least they didn't hit her.
When she neared them she held her saber out horizontally and cut through the left Trooper, then she switched her hand on the saber as she swung it down and behind her to drive into the chest plate of the Trooper behind her.
As he fell back off the lightsaber she twirled it and shook her head to move her bangs out of her eyeline.
She squared her shoulders back as she placed the saber in front of her protectively. She grabbed one of her laser pistols from her hostler inside her jacket and pulled it out. With trained precision she began to kill off the Storm Troopers with her laser pistol as she used her saber to block all incoming shots.
Her hands worked simultaneously. She didn't have her full attention on either one task- still she never missed a shot and she always lifted her lightsaber to deflect a blast. She worked in perfect harmony with herself, and by doing so, she slowly took out the entire regime. She was the perfect one-man squad, and those around her had to stop to watch in awe as she took down more Troopers than any of them.
Han stopped his fighting to watch her. He had the fleeting thought that she was exactly like her mother, two amazing fighters who didn't need anyone's help- they just wanted it.
"Pull back the tree line!" Aria heard one of the Troopers yell, but she couldn't tell who it was as she kept shooting. She slowly progressed to them until she became surrounded by fallen soldiers. They littered the ground all around her and painted her to the others as a true fighter- a true Resistance Legend.
"NO! REY!"
Aria's attention was pulled from her aim as she looked back to see what cause Finn to scream. She saw Kylo Ren emerge from the treeline with Rey's unconscious form in his arms. He climbed the ramp of his transport, taking her with him.
"REY!" Aria screamed as she left her position at a dead sprint. She pumped her arms as she ran, making her lightsaber skim the ground with each step but she didn't stop.
She kept pushing herself forward until the vessel lifted from the ground.
She stopped as the exhaust heat pushed her back. She looked up with squinted eyes to see the vessel eclipse the sun before it sped away from them.
Aria lost her breath as she realized that Kylo Ren just took Rey. He didn't take her for the sport- there had to be a reason.
"No, no, no, no... REY!!" Finn stopped just beside Aria as he watched the vessel leave the atmosphere.
Aria licked her lips and turned off her saber as she turned to Finn.
"Finn-"
"He took her." Finn's voice cracked as he kept his gaze to the sky. "Did you see that?" He turned to look into her dim eyes. "He took her. She's gone!" He shouted when Aria didn't react.
"I know." She gave a nod. Sweat dripped down the sides of her face and her chest heaved with heavy breaths, but she didn't care about the exhaustion. She cared that the girl she was quickly growing fond of was gone and she was left with Finn. "Look..." Aria didn't know what to say. "We'll figure something out, okay? We'll get her back." Aria saw Han and Chewie over Finn's shoulder. Aria looked back at Finn as she patted his shoulder. But with each hand occupied with a weapon it was an awkward two finger pat.
She moved passed him to head to her dad. She knew he liked Rey as much as she did, or else he wouldn't have offered her a job with them.
"Dad-"
"I saw." He cut her off before she could even tell him.
Aria fell in step beside him as they moved back towards the edge of the battlefield. "We have to do something." She told him. "We don't know why B- why Kylo Ren would want her." Aria had to correct herself quickly. Apparently the lines blurred when she was back with her dad. It wasn't all black-and-white anymore. It wasn't bad against light.
Han didn't answer her as he stopped walking to watch the Resistance Transport land beyond the Millennium Falcon.
The tips of Aria's brows furrowed as she saw the guilt swim in his eyes.
"She's fine." Aria comforted him. "She'll just be glad you're back. She won't care that you left."
"You did." Han looked down at his daughter. Aria huffed as she looked to watch the Transport ramp lowered.
"You're right." She admitted. "You're screwed."
Aria moved towards the vessel easily. She had no reason to stand back from Leia, although they had their previous tift about Poe and his last mission. Aria decided after everything that happened, she needed Leia more than she needed to be mad at her.
As the ramp lowered, Aria smiled up at her General. She couldn't help the relief that filled her as she stared into Leia's dark eyes. It was the exact same feeling a daughter got when seeing her mom, though they weren't related by blood- Leia was all Aria ever knew.
"Ariavanna-" Leia walked down to ramp to embrace the girl. "When you didn't check in I feared the worst."
Aria pressed her cheek against Leia's as she squeezed her back just as hard.
"I know. I'm sorry." She gave a genuine apology. "Also..." Aria pulled away and gave a sheepish smile before she stepped to the side. "I'm sorry for not warning you-"
Leia stiffed as she spotted Han Solo: the father of her son, the father of girl she viewed as a daughter, her best friend- and sister's- husband. In the flesh.
Aria looked back at her dad to see a similiar sense of stiffness to him. As she looked between them feverishly she realized they weren't going to sort things out themselves.
"Leia, I'm sorry that I left after our son turned to the dark side." Aria lowered her voice to mimic her father's. "I should have come back, or at least had the decency to tell you I was okay." Then she cleared her throat and added a light, gravely tone to it that resembled Leia's. "Han, I should have been more understanding that people grieve in their own ways. After Jo... I should have known you would revert back into your self. I'm just so glad to see you again." Aria gave a cheeky smile as she looked between the both of them to see their irritated glares. "This is nice." She nodded once. "The whole family is back together."
C-3PO slowly walked off the ramp in his golden glory save for one red arm. "Goodness!" C-3PO walked up to Leia as he spotted Han. " Han Solo! It is I, C-3PO! You probably don't recognize me because of the red arm." Aria bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing at the droid's inability to read a room. She looked to Leia to find her uncharacteristically awkward. " Look who it is! Did you see who?" C-3PO asked Leia first, then lifted his gaze to Aria. She nodded. "Oh. Excuse me, Prin-- uh, General. Sorry." C-3PO nodded his head before he looked over at BB-8 and R-8. The two must have stuck together the whole time because Aria hadn't spotted her droid since before the commotion. "Come along, BB-8. Quickly. You too, R-8." The two beeped as they followed him back into the Resistance Transport.
When they were alone again, Leia looked back up at Han.
"You changed your hair." Han noticed.
Aria rolled her eyes at his first line. Of course she changed her hair. She changed it every day.
"Same jacket." Leia looked down at the leather jacket.
Aria winced at her wrong observation. But knowing Leia it was probably intentional.
"No, new jacket." Han took on a defensive tone as he lifted a hand to pat his jacket.
Chewie came up to them then and, thankfully, broke the awkward tension as he told Leia how much he missed her. They hugged, and Aria took the opportunity to silently scold her father. With wide eyes and pursed lips, she shook her head fiercely at him.
Han shrugged his shoulders as he held his hands up apologetically.
When Chewie and Leia pulled away, Chewie patted Aria on the head then went over to board the Millennium Falcon.
Aria contemplated following him, but Han's next words stopped her.
"I saw him. Leia, I saw our son. He was here."
Aria stiffed as she slowly looked from Han to Leia.
Leia looked at Aria for confirmation, and when the young girl nodded she sucked in a long breath.
"Fly back to base with our convoy." Leia instructed Han. "There are many things we need to discuss." She didn't leave him room to argue, not that he was going to. He knew better than that. "Aria, are you coming with me?"
"I'll fly with dad." Aria saw the hurt flash through Leia's eyes, then the stark recognition of Aria's love for her father. "I figured with how he never came to visit us he doesn't know where the base is anymore, so... someone has to show him." Aria shrugged to ease some of her guilt. She shouldn't feel guilty for choosing her dad, but she did.
Maybe it was because she decided to leave the Resistance to join him, but she had a feeling that was put on hold until they got Rey back.
"Come on, Old Man." Aria patted Han's shoulder as she made her way towards the Millennium Falcon. She knew they had to leave Takadona quick, just because the First Order left didn't mean they would stay gone. She knew better than that.
"Old Man? I'm still in my prime." Han told her as he fell in step beside her.
"Finn!" Aria yelled at the distraught boy. "Come on," She waved him toward her.
Finn jogged up to them, but he didn't seem fully aware as they climbed into the Millennium Falcon. Finn went to the lounge to pout by himself while Aria and Han went to the cockpit.
"Should we be worried about him?" Han asked Aria as he slipped into his pilot chair while Chewie had co-pilot. Aria had slightly disappointed that she wouldn't be able to fly with her dad again, but she knew that him and Chewie were partners.
"He'll be fine." Aria told him as she sat behind her dad's chair and buckled up. "By the way, the base is in the Ileenium system. On D'Qar."
"D'Qar!" Han laughed at the planet. "Should've guessed it." Aria raised an amused brow as they lifted themselves into the air and followed after Leia's transport vessel.
Things were all quiet on the ride, and Aria took the time to look at the lightsaber in her hands. "This was Luke's, wasn't it?" Aria asked without taking her eyes off of the intricate metal and fine details.
Han turned in his chair once they were set on a straight path. He looked from Aria's bruised face to the metal in her hands. "How do you know that?" He asked softly. Aria's shoulders raised up in a single shrug.
"I just... feel it. When I look at it his face comes to mind." She looked up to her dad. "How do I know that?" She asked. There was a real fear in her eyes as she searched her dad's face for the answers. He always had the answers, or at least the ones to her questions.
"You're not going to like it." He warned her. "It's the force."
Aria let out a disgruntled breath as she quickly set the saber down on the arm of the chair so she didn't have to touch it anymore.
Han laughed at the immature action. Aria refused to have anything to do with the force, even against better judgement from others.
"You know, Kid..." Han thought of his words carefully. "Using the force doesn't guarantee pain." He looked her over slowly to make sure she understood. "There were Jedi who had gone their whole life without turning evil. Your mother... she never used it for bad. She said it was what kept her connected to the universe around her. It flowed through her and- and I have to believe that anything she felt that strongly about can't be that bad."
Aria's head hung low as she closed her eyes. Her fear of the unknown worsened and twirled around inside of her. She couldn't quite put her finger on what she was scared of, but it had a face.
"I don't feel connected to anything." Her voice was impossibly low. "I'm not a Jedi, dad... and I'm not mom." She looked up at her dad then to see the grief in his hazel eyes. "I know what the force does to people. It draws even the purest of souls to the dark side-" Han started to shake his head to dispute her but she kept on. "My own brother turned to the dark side." Aria gave an ugly sneer as her eyes moistened. "He turned against us dad... and I don't want anything to do with what lured him away from us."
Han stood from his seat and unbuckled Aria to pull her into his arms.
He wrapped his strong arms around his shaking daughter and tried to hold her together as she crumbled in his arms.
"He left us, dad."
"I know, kiddo." Han put his chin on the top of Aria's head and closed his eyes. "I know."
Aria clenched onto the stiff fabric of his jacket as she pulled herself closer to him. She rested her forehead against his peck and tried to calm herself down with the scent of oil and burnt wire, but not even that could soothe her when she thought of Ben.
"I don't know what we did wrong." Aria doubted herself.
"Hey-" Han gripped her shoulders as he pushed her back to look at her. "You did nothing wrong." He assured her. He couldn't have his daughter thinking it was her fault. "He chose this himself, you hear me?" Aria nodded, but she still wasn't sure. Han squeezed his daughter's shoulders before he turned around and got ready to pull them from light speed.
Aria sat back down to prepare herself for the lurch forward. When it came, she had to grab the lightsaber to keep it from sliding forward.
With nothing else to do with it, she clipped it onto the strap of her holster, above her right blaster. It hung in front of the holster's snap and could be tricky if she were to reach for that pistol, but at least she wouldn't have to hold it anymore.
When it was secure, Aria looked forward to see them descent on D'Qar.
The stunning beauty of it never ceased to amaze Aria, even when she expected it, the lush green mountains and thick trees were a sight to see.
"Your mom would have loved it here." Han told her sweetly.
Aria smiled at the thought of loving something her mother would have. Even without knowing her, they still had something in common.
When they landed, Aria, Chewie and Han left the comforts of the cockpit to join Finn in the lounge. "Come on poor boy, we'll meet with Leia and discuss a plan to get Rey back." Aria knew that would perk him up, she just didn't expect him to shoot up from his seat and almost knock into her as he ran down the ramp. "I swear if he doesn't calm down I'm going to knock him on his ass." Aria grumbled as she followed after him down the ramp.
The hangar floor was in total disarray. Every pilot who had just come back were now unloading from their fighters and reuniting with their friends and loved ones.
Aria could barely see five feet in front of her, let alone try to find a single, specific pilot among the chaos. Still, Aria shoved her way through the over-indulgent officers around her as she a look out for the black-marked X-wing she saw back on Takodana.
She lifted herself to her toes to get a better look, and over their heads she saw it- she saw him. Her heart swelled as she saw him take off his helmet and set it down behind them. There was no denying it. He was alive.
"POE!" Her voice personified excitement, and soon she didn't care about anyone else as she threw her elbows into ribs to push her way through the crowd. "POE!" She shouted for him again as she broke free of the madness. In her sudden clarity she looked over at him just as he bent down to embrace BB-8. She caught his curly black hair and busted face- but what she focused on most was his lively eyes. They sparkled under the sunlight, and she swore for a single second she saw the sun reflect in them.
She let out a breath as she sprinted towards her captain.
The wind pushed her hair back from her face and the sun warmed her cheeks but nothing felt better than the second she launched herself into Poe's arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist as she buried her face in the crook of his neck.
Poe stumbled back as he suddenly tacked on all of Aria's weight, but he quickly adjusted and tightly wrapped his arms around her to keep her up.
"I thought you were dead." Aria mumbled into his neck.
Poe's entire body broke out in goosebumps as her lips tickled his neck. "You came looking for me."
Aria pulled back as she gave Poe a wide, bright, genuine smile. It stole all of Poe's breath and almost made him drop her. "Of course I did, Poe." Her bright eyes flickered between his dark ones. "You're my captain. I will always come looking for you."
The sentiment was too much for Poe. He kept one arm securely placed around her lower back as he raised his other hand and tangled his fingers in her hair to pull her back down into a hug.
Aria accepted the gesture graciously. She closed her eyes and let Poe hold her against him. For that breath, she had everything she could possibly want in the entire galaxy.
"Poe! Poe Dameron!" Aria lifted herself from the hug and turned in Poe's arms to see Finn sprinting towards them. She dropped her legs from around Poe and stepped to the side just as Poe and Finn embraced. "You're alive!"
"So are you!" They pulled apart to look each other over. Aria noticed they both had wide, unbelieving smiles.
If Poe trusted Finn that much, the man must have really saved his life.
"What happened to you?" Finn asked. Poe's smile fell as he looked from Finn to Aria. Both looked equally confused about how he survived.
"What happened?" He looked back at Finn. "I woke up in a broken down ship. No you, the ship was trashed. I had to- I had to steal someone's vessel just to get back to base."
"You stole one?" Aria couldn't hide her surprise at her Commander's thievery, though it did make her admire him slightly more.
"I had no other choice," Poe turned to her so she could see the regret in his eyes. She knew that taking something from someone must have hurt him. Poe Dameron and his damn heart of gold.
The welcome party broke up as BB-8 began a series of beeps up at his master.
Aria, Finn and Poe looked down at him as he retold the story of Rey, Finn and Aria and how they fought to get him back to base.
"BB-8 says you saved him." Poe looked up first at Finn then over to Aria.
Aria shrugged, but Finn shook his head. "No, no, no, it wasn't just us." He tried to tell him. But Poe wasn't having it.
He placed a hand on Finn's shoulder and gave it a strong squeeze. "You completed my mission, Finn." Poe smiled, then looked down to his hand to see his jacket. "That's my jacket?"
"Yes it is." Aria nodded her head as she looked from Poe's jacket on Finn, to Poe.
"Oh, here." Finn started to shimmy the jacket off of his shoulders, but Poe stopped him.
"No, no, no. Keep it. It suits you." Poe told him. Finn stopped trying to remove it as he looked up at Poe. "You're a good man, Finn."
Aria tilted her head as she contemplated it. Finn was decent, she supposed. But he did try to run and only came back for Rey. So really... how good could he be?
"Poe..." Finn looked between Poe's dark, sparkling eyes. "I need your help."
"We both do." Aria interjected.
Poe's eyes widened as he realized Aria just admitted to needing him.
"What is it?" He asked them. Aria and Finn looked at each other to try and figure out who should tell him.
"There was another girl who helped up." Aria started as she looked at Finn.
Finn nodded then looked at Poe. "Her name's Rey, but she was captured by Kylo Ren. I don't know what he wants with her, but it can't be good."
The mention of Kylo Ren made Poe look at Aria. He had to tell her what Kylo said about her. She had to know that he asked about her so she could be more careful. But, before he could, they went on.
"We can bring him to Leia, we can make her understand that it's important to-" Aria stopped as she suddenly realized why Kylo Ren took Rey. "She saw the map." Aria turned to look at Finn with wide, terrified eyes. "She saw the map to Luke Skywalker. That's why he took her and didn't try to find BB-8."
"But..." Finn shook his head. "How can he know that? She wouldn't tell him. She wouldn't have-"
"He doesn't need her to tell him." Poe told them. Both turned to look at him. "He... he can look in your head." Poe looked to Aria then. "He looked into my memories and saw you-" Aria's face paled at the news. "I didn't say anything, he could just see you. I don't know how-" Poe shook his head. "But he saw whatever he wanted to."
"We have to go." Aria decided. "We have to get to Leia and tell her. We can't let Kylo Ren see that map." Finn and Poe nodded as they both understood the importance.
"Wait- before we go-" Finn grabbed Aria's forearm to stop her. Aria's eyes widened as she looked down at Finn's hand on her. Finn saw her extreme glance and moved his hand like he touched lava. "I-" Aria looked up at him expectantly. "I was a Storm Trooper... that's how I saved Poe."
Aria's eyes slowly widened until Poe and Finn could see a red vein on the inner corner of her eye. Her jaw went slack for just a moment before she composed herself. "So... you fought for the First Order?" She asked. Finn nodded. Aria lifted her chin as she gave a stiff nod. "Well... as long as we're being honest, if you didn't tell me where you got Poe's jacket back on Jakku... I was going to torture you." Her hate-filled eyes met his steely. "Then I would have killed you." She stepped around him to go find Leia and tell her about their new mission.
"She's kidding." Poe laughed as he watched Aria walk away. But after a few steps his laughter died down. "I think."